Instagram Tests 90-Minute Videos to Win Over the TV Screen

Instagram is making another push into long-form video. The company is testing a new horizontal video format called "features" that supports content up to 90 minutes long. The goal is to get users to watch podcasts and other long videos on their television screens as well as on their phones.

The long-video experiment does not arrive alone. To build interest in this kind of content, Instagram is also rolling out several new features for its TV apps and for how content is organized.

Open only to selected creators for now

For now, producing long-form content requires being among the small number of creators who have struck individual deals with Meta. According to reports, the company is initially targeting comedians and podcast producers. The horizontal videos will be watchable in the Instagram app, but the company hopes the new format will also steer users toward its TV apps.

The advertising side is an important part of the plan. Meta intends to work with creators who do not already have relationships with advertisers to find brand partners for them. The move is part of Instagram's effort to make its platform better suited to the types of content that tend to come with more lucrative ad deals.

The risk of cannibalizing short video, and a "symbiotic" hope

Adam Mosseri, who heads Instagram, said in a video that one of his biggest concerns about allowing long videos is the possibility that they could reduce engagement with existing short content. Still, he hopes long and short content will feed each other. Someone who watches a few clips from a podcast or comedy show as Reels, for instance, might then want to watch the full episode on a TV.

Mosseri added that getting this effort into the right shape will take some time, but that Meta is deeply committed to it over the long term.

TV apps are expanding

Instagram has been preparing for this for a while. Last year the company introduced its first TV app, a Reels version for Fire TV. Now an Apple TV app is being added, and the apps offered for Samsung and Google TV devices are also on the list. The TV apps will also support Stories posts and live broadcasts.

Instagram is also testing "series," a feature that links multiple short videos together to make it easier to find related videos from the same creator. This episodic structure will now appear in the TV app as well.

Not the first attempt to rival YouTube

The move is seen as Meta's latest attempt to compete with YouTube and to make its platform fit the kinds of content that come with more lucrative ad deals. The company took a similar step in 2018, launching IGTV, a separate app for long videos. IGTV failed to draw enough interest and was shut down in 2022. As Mosseri put it, this new effort, too, will take time to find the right form.